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LOS ANGELES >> Operations at the factory that makes the popular green-capped Sriracha hot chili sauce got a green light Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge declined to make an immediate ruling on Irwindale’s request to temporarily halt production.

Judge Robert H. O’Brien took the city’s request for a preliminary injunction against Huy Fong Foods under submission.

The city has said Huy Fong should be temporarily closed until the company addresses foul odors believed to be emanating from the North Azusa Canyon Road factory. Residents have complained of coughing fits, burning eyes and gagging sensations.

During the brief afternoon hearing, John Tate, an attorney for Huy Fong, told O’Brien chili crushing has been completed at the factory until next summer.

“The activity is not going on... There is nothing to enjoin,” he said.

Tate did not know exactly when the chili crushing ended.

City Attorney Fred Galante said the complaints to the city have come in as recently as Wednesday.

The judge said he had hoped Huy Fong would have presented the testing results of its new filtration system installed at the factory amid the bevy of complaints and the lawsuit filed by the city.

Tate said the company did not have results of those findings.

It is unclear when O’Brien will make his decision. No matter the ruling, the case is expected to proceed to trial. The city claims the odors it believes are emanating from the factory have created a public nuisance.

“There’s no evidence that we’re causing anything,” said Tate. “If you read their papers, they have people that believe it came from the factory. There’s nobody that ever traced them back to a source.”

A South Coast Air Quality Management District spokesman said inspectors have detected the scent of chili and garlic when responding to residents’ complaints. The AQMD did not issue a notice of public nuisance because it requires at least six people to complain of the smell in the same incident.

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Huy Fong and the city first appeared in court on Oct. 31 when O’Brien denied the city’s request for a temporary restraining order, which would have immediately shut down operations.

Galante said the city is trying to settle the matter out of court.

“We’ve made several overtures in this regard and we will continue to do so,” said Galante. “This was just one option in the lawsuit to ask the judge to shut them down.”

Huy Fong CEO and founder David Tran has said if he is forced to shutdown, the price of the sauce with a roster pictured on its bottle will go up.

During the proceeding, attorney Stephen Onstot, representing the city, pointed out to the judge an Oct. 3 email, submitted with court documents, where Tran said he would pay the electricity bills of resident Manuel Ortiz Jr., the son of city Councilmen H. Manuel Ortiz, because Ortiz Jr. had to close his windows because of the smell.

Onstot said Tran admits to the odors in that email.

He also noted the declarations of opposition to the lawsuit submitted by Huy Fong were made by people who were near the factory in the daytime. Many of the residents’ complaints came in the evening hours.

Huy Fong included statements from Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Bailey, who said “it was difficult to detect a smell and to the extent I did, it was mild and not unpleasant,” and Young Ja Whang, who owns a liquor store across the street from Huy Fong.

“At times, a mild odor from the facility can be detected in the store, but it is a pleasant scent and causes no irritation to the eyes or throat,” wrote Whang. “We actually like it. I am surprised that anyone has complained.”

The city submitted declarations from 13 residents about the smells, in which they testify the odor has forced them to limit their outdoor activity and causes them to cough or choke when they inhale the smell.

Resident Sofia Tapia likened the experienced to being sprayed with pepper spray. Megan Zepeda said her children have received nosebleeds more often and Yolanda Priscilla Zepeda said she limits the outdoor activity of her asthmatic son.

The sauce with a cultlike following is sold on every continent. The Internet and social media blew up with the hashtag “Srirachapocalypse” amid concerns there might be a limited supply of Sriracha if the factory is closed down